Across Enemy Lines
by Korrallaries
Summary: Mako was right, he did have a knack for getting into stupid situations. And right now, his stupid situation was lying on the cold ground of the warehouse, still in an Equalist uniform and mask. Post-finale Bolin/Equalist!OC
1. Chapter 1

Mako was right, Bolin thought. He had a knack for getting into stupid situations.

Right now, his stupid situation was lying on the cold ground of the warehouse, still in an equalist uniform and mask.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how he even managed to get into such a mess. He had just been walking to the market to restock the kitchen in the newly rebuilt apartment he and Mako shared above the arena. He hadn't been expecting to be ambushed by a group of five Equalist supporters, especially after their leader had fallen.

Bolin sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair. Logically, he knew he should turn any Equalists into the police to deal with questioning. After Lin had been reinstated as Chief of Police, the metalbending force was strong and trusted, advocating for the rights of benders and non-benders alike.

But when he had bent a dense earth disc right into her gut and propelled her into a wall, this Equalist had let out a sharp cry of pain and crumpled onto the pavement. Her companions had turned and fled, leaving her alone. Bolin's conscience, as well as his sense of propriety, kept him from immediately hauling an unconscious lady to the police station.

So instead he carried her into the abandoned warehouse that they had attacked him from, and secured her to the floor with makeshift earth handcuffs. "Right, Bolin," he had mumbled to himself. "She'll feel much safer chained to the floor of a dark, empty warehouse than she would if she woke up in the Police Station. Great plan."

But despite the number of times he told himself that this was a stupid idea and that there was no way this was going to end well, he still sat on the cold warehouse floor, watching the figure in front of him.

He reached forward, tentatively at first, to touch the metal on the Equalist mask. He had never been able to observe one from such a close distance before, at least not without being simultaneously gagged and tied up. He wondered what the purpose of the colored glass over the eyes was. Perhaps to further shield the identity of the wearer, or perhaps to help vision at night.

"I should probably make sure she's not too injured," he muttered, hooking his fingers on the mask and pulling it carefully upward. The mask slid off, and Bolin froze with the garment still dangling from his hand.

She wasn't hard or tough or old or scarred or any of the things he had imagined an Equalist to be behind the disguise. She was young. She looked like Korra's age-_his _age. The lines of her face were soft and round, and she looked peaceful as she slept. Her hair was a lighter brown than was normally seen in Republic City. Lighter hair was usually more common among the Fire Nation.

But her eyes were deep brown instead of the customary Fire Nation amber, he noticed as they snapped open.

_Oh spirits._

The girl jerked upward, only to be forced back down to the ground from the cuffs on her wrists. She kicked her legs up, but was unable to get any leverage with her arms pinned to the ground. She quickly whipped her head from side to side, noticing Bolin for the first time and giving him a glare worthy of the great Satomobile heiress.

"What do you want with me?" she growled, voice raspy.

Bolin drew back, somewhat stung from the accusation in her voice. Logically, he knew that he shouldn't have expected anything else-he _did _chain her to the floor of an empty warehouse, after all. But he really did have her best intentions in mind!

"I saved you from being arrested." The sixteen year old spread his hands, trying to calm the girl's nerves. "You were knocked out."

"Knocked out by _you_, earthbender." The implication in her tone was hard to miss, and he felt his frustration rising.

"All five of you attacked me first!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest, abandoning any effort to make peace. She was chained to the floor after her team's failed ambush, and she had the gall to accuse _him _of attacking her? "I was just going to get food, I wasn't looking for any trouble. And then boom! Out of nowhere, five Equalists are attacking me. Does that sound like a fair fight to you?"

At least she had the decency to look ashamed. Though the frown quickly gave way to a snarl as she opened her mouth to respond. "You benders think you've won just because you unmasked Amon, but you're wrong! We will never stop fighting your oppression!"

"Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that all of the benders are trying to oppress all the non-benders?"

"Do you really not?" Her voice quieted now, and it unnerved Bolin to hear the seriousness in her tone. "The city is run by a council of four, who represent different bending nations. Nobody represents us. We don't have a nation, nor do we have an element. We're lost. Forgotten."

"You're not lost," Bolin replied, feeling a bit put on the spot. "Avatar Korra is working right now to try and fix the city infrastructure so everybody has opportunities, bender or not."

"A bender trying to fix the whole city for non-benders." She sneered, looking as far away from Bolin as she could. "How noble."

"Hey, what do you have against benders?"

He couldn't see her face, but her voice floated back to him, muted and carefully spoken to mask any emotion. "My parents were killed by the Triple Threat Triad when I was thirteen. The police couldn't do anything for me, so I was stuck without a home or any money until I joined the Equalists."

Bolin felt a little sick to his stomach, knowing that his brother worked briefly for the same Triple Threat Triad. Necessary money, but still.

"My parents were killed by benders too, you know." He tried to keep his voice calm and level, hoping to reach some common ground. "A firebender, when I was six. My brother and I were on the streets until I was fourteen." He shuddered at the memory. "My brother was taken advantage of a lot too-he worked long for the power plant and got barely any pay. The problems with the city aren't limited to non-benders, we have a lot of work to do for everybody."

"I bet probending for the Fire Ferrets paid a lot better." She didn't exactly mask the bitterness in her voice this time around.

"You know I'm a probender?" Bolin felt the familiar tingling of pride in his chest, even though he knew that wasn't an appropriate reaction. It still felt nice to be recognized.

She scowled, but a pink blush spread across her cheeks. "Everybody knows who you are. You helped the Avatar destroy our revolution. You got off the streets because you could bend. I had to learn self defense in secret because chi blocking is against the law."

"I know how incredibly lucky I was to get off the streets, but that doesn't mean I don't understand what you went through." He paused. "I didn't know that chi blocking was against the law."

"For the past five years," she affirmed. "Councilman Tarrlok led the campaign."

Bolin scowled. "Councilman Tarrlok was corrupt, and we're trying to reverse the damage he did. I know some benders have done a lot to hurt you, but that doesn't mean we're all bad-"

"Did you call the police?"

Her question cut off his reply, leaving him feeling a bit dazed. Of course she would want to know if he was turning her in to the police. Bolin opened his mouth, wrestling with what to tell her, and opted for honestly. "No," he said. "I didn't."

She gave him a quizzical look. "Why not?"

"I don't know!" Bolin threw his hands in the air, running out of patience. "You were knocked out and it was my fault and I didn't want to just leave you there after I called the police. It's a bad neighborhood and you were unconscious, and all of the other Equalists had run away..."

"They left me?" Her voice was soft and almost vulnerable, and suddenly she looked very small. Bolin could only nod.

"Are...are you going to let me go?"

He bit his lip, nodding again and pulling his arms back, causing the earth manacles on the floor to fall away. She slowly lifted her wrists, rubbing the raw skin.

Bolin turned around to give her some privacy as she stood up. "You should come back with me," he said, feeling suddenly hopeful about the idea. "You could help us fix the city, give us a perspective from the other side. Think of what good we can do!" A rustling of cloth, but she didn't reply. He sighed. "At least tell me your name."

Silence greeted him. Bolin turned around and saw only a completely empty warehouse, soft lights flickering in the evening sun. A small window, at least twelve feet off the ground, slammed closed in the wind. She was gone.

**A/N: New story! This is my third WIP, so I apologize if I don't get to update it as often as Sparks and Winds of Change. This story is going to be on the shorter side, probably around five chapters. But then again, I don't really know where I'm going with it so it may end up a lot longer. I really liked the idea of using Bolin to explore some of the underlying causes of tension that spurred the Equalist revolution. Plus Bolin needs some loving too!**

Reviews and criticism are always appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2

"And you want to come on my patrol _why_ exactly?" His brother's voice was filled with enough skepticism to make him flinch, but Bolin kept his signature goofy grin plastered on his face. It wasn't too hard, considering his normal disposition included cracking jokes at the most serious of situations. This time, however, he had to convince his brother that he had no ulterior motives in joining his police patrol, and that would be trickier.

Bolin wasn't under any illusions, he knew he couldn't lie his way out of a paper bag. But after years of living with Mako, he had perfected the technique of half truths and lying by omission. Sometimes, that was the only way he could get the older boy to let him out of the house.

"Because I want to help you catch the bad guys too!" The answer was rubbish and they both knew it, so Bolin spread his arms and twisted his mouth into a sheepish smile. "Plus, it's getting boring up here. If I want to be in shape by the time pro-bending starts, I need to practice."

Mako raised a jagged eyebrow that signalled he didn't _quite_ buy his brother's story, but jerked his head towards the door in a silent affirmation anyway.

Bolin couldn't exactly blame him. While his excuses were true-it really was getting boring with Korra busy and Asami working and Mako patrolling-his real aim in joining the police patrol was to try and find any information he could about the remaining Equalist groups. And to do that, Mako was his best bet.

But telling his brother the truth was _completely_ out of the question. If he thought Bolin's normal plans were absurd, this would rank up with the top-ten-stupidest-things-you've-ever-done in Mako's book. Right up there with taking obscene amounts of money from the triads to try and make money for the championship pot, and getting captured by Equalists as a result.

Even Bolin wasn't sure what was stupider. Helping the triads with some "security work," or scouring the streets for masked threats, hoping to find the one girl he knew by face but not by name, who he still wasn't sure wouldn't attack him on sight.

Who would be under a mask. So he wouldn't even be able to see her face. Right.

"Really Bo, there are better ways to practice," Mako said, two hours and no bad guys later. "You don't even really use bending in this job, unless somebody gives chase." He swung a pair of dark metal handcuffs around his right index finger as they ambled down the streets of the park district. Their old stomping ground. "Sometimes I'm not sure why I took this job."

Bolin blew a persistent curl out of his face. "Please, I'm not completely unaware of the perks of being a uniformed officer."

Mako spared him a quick glance. "Really," he replied, voice flat. "Then please, inform me."

Bolin could think of many-food, a steady paycheck, the feeling of doing _something_ worthwhile. But his brother's skepticism, paired with his constant overprotectiveness, was grating on his nerves.

So instead, he gave a pointed look at the handcuffs, still dangling from his brother's finger, before turning his eyes back up to meet his gaze. Bolin smirked. "Well, I know for a fact that you and Korra use those handcuffs for far more than apprehending criminals."

Mako sputtered, dropping the offending item and turning around quickly before Bolin could laugh at the crimson blush spreading across his entire face. Not like that stopped the younger bender-it wasn't often that he was able to chip at his brother's stoic persona.

He slowed his pace slightly to let the older boy regain his composure, looking around at the houses lining the busy street. Tall, modern structures built with the idea that all people could live together, survive off each other, and coexist in harmony. Bolin sighed, hoping that maybe sometime during his lifetime Republic City would actually reach that goal.

Up ahead, he heard Mako give out a shout.

Bolin snapped his attention forward, watching as his brother turned into a shadowed attacker to send out two blazes of fire in controlled bursts. The figure dodged easily, running forward closer towards the square, Mako hot in pursuit.

He sprinted forward to catch up to Mako, but the familiar sight of an Equalist motorbike had him stopping short. He noticed two shadows pass quickly over him-Equalists running on the rooftops. He could feel the subtle vibrations from their feet; they were running fast, but not fast enough to reach his brother.

The soft crunch and shift of earth behind him brought Bolin to a chilling realization. They weren't trying to go after Mako, but they could easily corner him.

Bolin's grasp on seismic sensing was tenuous at best-after all, Chief Bei Fong had just begun teaching him-but even his unrefined ability to sense the Equalists' position gave him an advantage that they didn't know he had. And he planned to use that as best he could.

Bolin quickly surveyed his surroundings, spotting two dark shadows crouching on the rooftops near the end of the road. His two tails were subtly picking up their pace, but the small alleyway to his left was empty.

He turned into the alleyway as quickly and suddenly as he could without losing his footing, sprinting forward down the darkened pathway. The Equalists behind him abandoned all attempts at being quiet and started chasing after him, and Bolin smirked. He knew these streets just as well as they did, and if he just kept going with a turn to the left and then another to the right he'd be right out in the open at the square, all he had to do was make it around this corner...

But a low rumbling feeling in his gut made him stop just before turning past the last row of packed houses. Flattening himself against the wall, he peered around the bend to see no fewer than ten Equalists scaling the fire escapes and walls of houses lining the last stretch of alleyway before the open square. He watched as the Equalists began slowly moving forwards, clustering together and blocking out the faint light at the end of the street that was his chance at escape.

Behind him, he could feel the footsteps of at least five attackers. Possibly more. He shook his head, trying to stop himself from panicking and assess his options. He was an earthbender. He could vault himself up over the rooftops, but they would surely see him then. And Equalists were infamously good at using the city terrain to their advantage, he likely wouldn't get too far.

He could fight, but by himself that would be near suicide. The line of houses was solid, he would need to blow a hole entirely through one of them to get out of the alleyway.

His best bet was to burrow. ("Just like a badgermole, the first earthbenders practiced tunneling into the ground," Chief Bei Fong said at their last lesson. Bolin had been still wary of tunnels after being captured.) Perhaps if he could be quiet and quick about it, they wouldn't be able to use their tools or weapons to find him.

Bolin set his feet flat on the ground in a bending stance and lifted his hands, palms facing down towards the ground. He took a deep breath and lifted his foot, preparing to deliver a sharp blow down to the ground to effectively bury himself, when he felt a body attack him from behind and pin both his arms behind him. He thrashed violently to try and free himself, but the Equalist simply strengthened their hold and pressed a quick chi-block on his right arm, eliminating any chance he had at earthbending. Bolin could only watch helplessly as the Equalist pulled him back against the wall, shifted an arm under his shoulders, and then spun so they were looking upwards.

And then, suddenly, they were airborne.

He nearly yelped, but any noise was stifled when his attacker held a gloved hand against his mouth. His chi-blocked arm flapped uselessly in the wind as they rose one story, two stories, up among the tightly packed town houses. Bolin gulped as he watched the ground get smaller and smaller, and decided that looking down was not a very good idea after all.

They slowed to a stop and his attacker pulled them both back onto a hidden fire escape, obscured from view by a tattered curtain taped carefully to the overhang above them. The windows on the house behind them were boarded up, nails sticking out at odd jagged angles. Bolin could see only a small line of sunlight reaching their feet, the fabric doing a good job at keeping out the sun. The Equalist yanked on a large spiked object, which looked suspiciously like a Future Industries automatic grappling hook.

Bolin raised his left arm to level a punch at the bronze helmet, aiming for the weak spot on the connection between the neck and the rest of their armor. The Equalist deflected the punch, using Bolin's own momentum to push him downwards and back against the wall, pinning him in place with two gloved hands.

"Stop that!" A muffled voice came from behind the mask, and the arms holding him in place faltered. Bolin kept thrashing-it was only a matter of seconds before he knew he'd regain strength in his arms, and then he would be able to push them off.

He heard the Equalist mutter a low curse before reaching up and ripping the helmet off. Flashing brown eyes glared back at him, framed by light brown hair tied back in a messy band that reminded him a little of Korra's wolftail. Still preoccupied with the fight, it took him a second to recognize her as the girl from the warehouse.

Oh. Well, that explained it.

"What are you _doing_ here?" She hissed, keeping her hold on his arms and digging her thumbs into a pressure point near his shoulder to make it painful to move. "Do you have _any_ idea how dangerous this is?"

"Hey, you don't have to tell me!" Bolin had the nagging feeling that they had already had this argument. "I was just trying to catch up with my brother, and then suddenly there were a million Equalists swarming me!"

The girl shook her head, causing a few stray hands of hair to fall in front of her eyes. "You're crazy. What were you doing out here without backup?"

"I was with my brother." Bolin felt like a petulant child for it, but if she wasn't pinning them to the wall he would have folded his arms across his chest. "And I used to live out here, thank you very much!"

"Really," her voice was dry. "Which one was your house?"

"We didn't have one."

That response caused her to shut her mouth with an audible click. She glanced sideways towards the alleyway that the tapestry was covering, eyes narrowing at the low murmur of voices that could be heard below. "Were you following me?"

Bolin gritted his teeth and refused to answer. Not for the first time, he desperately wished for the capability to lie.

"_Were_ you?" Her voice was insistent.

"Yes."

"You can't. You can't keep following me, it's not safe." The side of her mouth tugged downwards and he saw the beginning of a worry crease between her eyebrows. Despite himself, Bolin felt his lips curling into a smile.

"You don't want me to get hurt. You're protecting me." His mouth split into a wide grin, even as they stood hiding from at least a dozen Equalists. His rational side warned him that it was perhaps not wise to tease the girl who could throw him to the wolves, but Bolin was more than used to silencing his sense of reason.

"You saved me!" He said instead, shooting her what he hoped was an award winning, swoon-worthy smile. She glared. Perhaps he needed to work on the smile, after all.

"You kept me from being arrested, and I don't like being indebted to people." Her mouth was a hard, flat line.

"Don't deny it, you don't want to see me hurt." Bolin plowed on recklessly, despite her angry expression. "You know I'm not a bad guy, and I know you don't really want to see benders hurt and killed. We _can_ work together you know, think of all the good we can do!"

She gave him a half humorous, half skeptical look. "You're crazy."

"But you like me. Admit it." Bolin's smile was triumphant, and her face was close enough that he could see the changing emotions in her eyes. Surprise, intrigue, confusion.

And anger. That one definitely looked like anger.

"I don't want anything to do with you." Her tone left no room for argument. Bolin swallowed. "I didn't want your blood on my hands when you saved my life. Now I have returned the favor, and we can go our separate ways."

She released him and stepped back. The sudden rush of blood into his arms had Bolin gasping as he sunk down to a crouch, his eyes still trained on the girl in front of him. "Please, just talk to me about this," he implored, willing her to stay just a bit longer. "I don't want to fight you, and I think we're going after the same goal if we could just listen to each other."

Her eyes narrowed, brown eyes looking almost black in the shadows. "Why do you want to help me?"

Bolin shrugged. "I don't like fighting people. Or violence. At least not when it's outside the probending arena. I think together we have a chance to actually build something great, like Avatar Aang dreamed of when he first built this city."

When she didn't immediately leave, he felt his courage growing. "Meet me tonight. No Equalists, no cops, just you and me talking about why we're on different sides of this war. Midnight, in the alley behind the Arena. If I can't convince you, then I promise I'll leave you alone."

Bolin hoped it was the promise of meeting him later, and not the promise of him leaving her alone that had the other girl pause in her exit.

"I'll think about it."

It wasn't a promise. It wasn't anything close to an affirmative. But it was still enough to make Bolin's heart swell.

She turned to leave, and he held up a still-numb arm. "Wait!" She froze, fingers curled around the curtain, and looked over her shoulder, her questioning gaze settling on him. "At least tell me your name."

He couldn't quite be sure, but he could have sworn that he saw her lips curl up into a smile before she stepped out of the obscured enclave.

"Kaiyo. My name's Kaiyo." The breeze shifted the makeshift curtain to the side, obscuring her briefly from his vision. When the fabric settled, she was nowhere to be seen.

Bolin sighed, cradling his chi-blocked arm and rubbing the feeling back into it. "That's going to get old really fast, isn't it."

**A/N: Writing Bolin has become my new favorite pastime. He's just so lovable and goofy, and his internal monologues are fantastically fun to write. **

**Kaiyo is a traditionally Japanese name, and means "forgiveness."**

**Thanks all for the reviews! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter, and look for the third one coming out within the next week :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Kaiyo. Hmm. I wonder if she would get angry if I called her Kai. What do you think, Pabu?"

Two brown eyes stared back at Bolin, the rust colored rodent looking a bit pathetic while completely covered in soapy water. One ear twitched and he made a somewhat affirmative sounding gurgling sound.

"You're right. She probably would." Bolin put the fire ferret down, who quickly shot out of his grasp and streaked to the other side of the apartment, shaking the water out of his fur and puffing up like an enlarged cotton ball. Bolin snickered.

"Come here, Pabu. Let me brush you off." The ferret slinked back towards the young teenager, relaxing only when Bolin brought out a short brush to smooth down his fur.

Washing Pabu was silly, Bolin knew that. The frustrating creature would run out and go roll in whatever dirt he could find in the bending arena within the next hour anyway. But the process was therapeutic, letting him feel like he had some control over something.

Especially when everything else in his life was spinning out of control. Fast.

It was only half an hour until midnight, and Bolin's heart was racing so fast he didn't know if he would be able to catch it. He sat on the frayed red couch, hunched over with his elbows on his knees, trying to take deep breaths in and out just like Chief Beifong always said. Hopefully it would calm him down enough to be able to walk into a dark alleyway to meet an Equalist on steady feet.

_Breathe in._

What if she didn't come? What if he just waited there for hours, feeling like an idiot?

_Breath out._

And what if she _did _come? What would he say? What if he scared her away and never saw her again?

_Breath in. _

And worse, what if she came with other Equalists? What if he was was walking straight into another ambush? What if...

"Bo? Boli-i-i-n?"

Mako's voice rang up the stairway to their apartment, causing Bolin to nearly fall off the couch in alarm. Sighing, he grabbed the pot full of soapy water and suds and dumped it into the sink, just as Mako reached the top of the landing and made his way into the apartment.

"I'm here, bro." He was getting better at lying, he mused. His voice sounded not at all strained, almost normal! Not like he was going to meet possibly one, possibly none, and possibly many equalists in thirty-he glanced at the clock-ten! Ten short minutes.

Beside him, Mako shook his head and made a clucking noise between his teeth. Bolin remembered very little about his mother, but he imagined that she probably would do the same thing. "What have I told you about washing Pabu in here? He makes a mess of everything!"

Bolin turned around and swept his gaze to where Mako was pointing. Sure enough, soapy paw prints and puddles decorated the floor of the apartment, ending at a very abashed looking Pabu. The fire ferret made an almost pathetic mewing sound and scampered up the stairs to Bolin's lofted bed, hiding behind the curtains there.

Bolin saw his opportunity and grabbed it. "You're right, sorry about that." He spread his arms and gave his brother a wide, hopefully innocent smile. "I'll just go grab a mop from the arena to clean this up."

"It's not that big of a deal, I'm sure it can wait until morning..."

"Nope! Nope, I insist." He edged towards the front door before Mako could contradict him again. "Better to get it done now. Be back in a bit!"

His brother opened his mouth to reply but Bolin was out the door before he could get any words out. Once the door was shut and he heard the distinct click of the latch falling into place behind him, he sagged to the side and leaned his shoulder against the wall.

Well, that could have gone better.

He pressed a palm to his forehead, the pressure comforting. He needed to come up with some better excuses.

He wove his way down the spiral staircase and through the trapdoor to the main arena, dropping the last feet off the ladder to land on the floor. The ground gave slightly under his feet, swallowing any sound his landing should have made. Some days it was good to be an earthbender.

The deafening silence of the empty arena was oddly comforting. Bolin had been fifteen when Mako had fought his way tooth and nail into the probending world. Toza had been wary of letting them enter the games at such a young age, especially with the injury rate the sport had. But when Mako had dragged in a younger, malnourished Bolin to show him that they could firebend and earthbend with the best, Toza had set his jaw and said that they would train with him, and he would decide when they were ready to compete.

After a rough day of bending, Toza had given them a mop and a broom and told them to clean up the practice rooms, and then pointed them upstairs to stay the night. Bolin had waited anxiously the next day for the older bender to tell them that they needed to find their own lodging, but the order never came. Two years later, he was still waiting.

Trying to mimic Pabu's ability to sneak around without being caught, Bolin slunk through the dark halls of the arena, taking the long way out to the back alleyways.

Leaning against a wall and pressing a hand against his chest to calm his racing heartbeat, he closed his eyes and muttered to himself. "And now I wait."

"About time you showed up."

Fear spiked. Bolin yelped and jumped high enough into the air to make Meelo proud. He turned from side to side, trying to see where the Equalists were hiding but finding only darkness. Finally regaining his senses, he realized that there was only one voice.

"Kaiyo?" He was proud that his voice was steady, not shaking at all!

"Good to see you again, earthbender." He could swear he heard a chuckle. "If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to keep my cover this time."

Her voice was coming from around the corner and Bolin smirked, knowing she couldn't see him. Clearly, she had never been tracked by an earthbender before. Placing a hand casually along the side walls of the alleyway, he could sense her form along the next bend, only a few paces down. She was probably using the shadows he was casting from the still lit arena to trace him.

"You don't have to hide, you know," he said, slowly beginning to creep down the dirty road. "I won't turn you in, and nor will my brother or Korra."

A incredulous snort. "She won't turn us in? That's rich. She isn't _my _avatar."

Bolin had to fight to keep his temper in check, reminding himself that not everybody saw the battles Korra fought, the battles they _all _fought, in the name of equality. "She is your avatar. She fights for all of us."

"And how does the avatar represent us?" Her voice was wary, but curious. A good sign.

"She saved dozens of citizens from being arrested by Councilman Tarrlok when he imposed the curfew, even when he arrest her friends instead. She's working to expand the council to represent all classes in the city."

Bolin took another step, forcing himself to keep a snail's pace and not alert her to his approach. "She repealed the ban on chi-blocking," he continued. "After I told her about the measures Tarrlok pushed through."

There was a pregnant pause. "There's no longer a ban on chi-blocking?" She pitched her voice lower, some of the angry edge vanishing.

"No. You can defend yourself now without worrying about getting arrested."

Another pause. And then, "Oh." She sounded like someone had just levelled a punch to her stomach, out of breath and confused all at the same time.

"She _is _your avatar too. She wants to work with you, not against you." When she didn't respond, Bolin slid his foot forward, one hand braced on the wall, and propelled himself around the corner. The light was dim, but his eyes quickly adjusted to see-

Nothing.

"Stop trying to find me!" Her words echoed down the narrow alleyway, but he couldn't place where they were coming from. He bent down and placed his hand, palm down and fingers splayed, on the ground. He could no longer feel her presence, but where could she possibly have moved to?

Bolin set his jaw and let out a frustrated breath, the hot air escaping through his nose. "It's only natural to want to face the person you're talking to."

The voice floated back to him. "You don't want to face me. I'm the enemy, remember?" There was a hint of amusement there, and it only caused his frustration to rise. She was enjoying this far too much!

Through his hand on the ground he felt her land, impossibly fast, somewhere about a half block behind him. The vibrations were sharp and strong, metallic. Probably a fire escape.

Bolin swore. He knew that Equalists could scale walls and climb over rooftops with airbender-like grace, but he hadn't expected her to be able to outmaneuver him so quickly. He had underestimated her.

But she had also underestimated him. He wasn't just an earthbender; he was a metalbender and sensor too! He straightened up slowly and toed off his shoes, biting back a gasp when his bare feet hit the cold autumn ground. But the effect was immediate-the alleyway snapped into focus as if someone had lit a candle in a dark room. He felt the soft impact of his target landing on the ground and headed that direction, letting the earth swallow any noise he would have made as he inched forward.

"You're not the enemy. The enemy was a lying, masked man who used all of us with promises he would have failed to deliver." Bolin walked slowly, silently, and felt her slide closer to the wall. Hiding in the shadows. Good thing he didn't need light to see anymore.

"He was a liar, but he would have achieved it. " Her tone was sharp, but there was doubt in her voice. Something had changed since their first encounter in the warehouse, and Bolin could only hope that he could bring that change full circle.

Bolin paused in his pursuit for a moment. "Do you really think equality is achieved by taking away any talent you are born with? Like denying a swordsman a sword or a painter a brush just so everyone can be exactly the same?"

"It's not like that at all..."

"But it is!" Bolin bit his lip, trying to keep his temper in check. Before the revolution, he had no trouble being easygoing. Now, sometimes, he had to work at it. "Equality isn't making everybody the same, it's doing your best to give everybody the same opportunities to succeed."

"Oh, so you're saying us nonbenders have the same opportunity as any bender?" Sarcasm. Bolin clenched his teeth and started inching forward again. His feet told him that she was only a handful of paces away, pressed against the wall around the next corner.

"Not yet, but we're working on it." He hoped that talking would keep her distracted. "Being born with bending can provide you with opportunity, just like being born with money or fighting skills will lead to opportunity. We're still trying to build this city where people aren't hedged into different classes at birth, but forcibly ripping talent from people is not the way to do it."

"Allowing that sort of power will always lead to abuse."

"But it will also lead to good! We need to work together to make sure that good prevails over those who would abuse their power!"

Her voice was softer, even though he was barely three feet from her hiding place. "How can you be so sure?"

He pitched his voice lower to match hers, partially to obscure his proximity and partially because her tone reminded him of a memory. An old memory, mostly hidden away, full of hunger and uncertainty and loneliness. The dark, cold night was unhinging him, ever so slightly.

"Because there are good people in this world. Like Avatar Korra and Chief Bei-Fong and councilman Tenzin. And me. And you."

Before she had a chance to reply, Bolin whirled around the corner and saw her, barely more than a shadow, hiding between the low hanging fire escape and the wall of the alleyway. But she danced away, disappearing down another tiny street and Bolin took off after her.

"Why do you trust the avatar and the council so much? How do you know that they're good?" Her voice barely sounded strained as Bolin felt her take another turn, and another. The wall of houses was a maze but, using his feet instead of his eyes, Bolin could see it better than she could. He tore down a different street, hoping to intercept her before she managed to take off over the rooftops.

"Because they fight for the voice of everyone, no matter how small." A turn, and another. He was getting closer.

"And you?"

Bolin dashed right, then left. He felt her slow her pace to a walk and he mirrored her movements. "Because I could have taken you straight to the police station for attacking me. But I want to work with you, not arrest you."

"And me?"

One last turn. "Because..."

Bolin swallowed his response as he took the last corner because suddenly she was _right there, _standing across from him in the suffocatingly small alleyway. Barely a breath between them, Bolin felt his heartbeat pick up. Her expression was startled and her arms stiff, hanging awkwardly at her side as if she thought she would need to attack at any moment. But she was wearing a simple tunic with brown pants instead of her Equalist garb, and her large, brown eyes were curious, not fearful.

She was beautiful. And spirits, was it distracting.

"Because I know you're a good person. I can tell. And I want to help you." Her eyes widened and Bolin felt the almost impossible urge to reach across the negligible space between them. Protect her from all of the evil life had thrown her way.

"Please, Kaiyo," Bolin felt a thrill shoot through him at the use of her name. "You have to trust me."

"I...I do trust you." She bit her lip, clearly unsure of how to proceed. "Bolin..."

_Spirits_. Bolin reeled, loving the sound of his name on her lips. She unhinged him, caused all rational thought to leave him. It was really her fault for what happened next.

At least that's what he told himself.

Slowly, almost as if moving through molasses, he reached forward to press a hand against her cheek. Her breath hitched, muscles in her neck stiffening from shock. But, instead of moving away, she leaned every so slightly into his hand, his thumb brushing a stray hair from her cheek.

Bolin wasn't exactly sure what was going on between them, but he really really wanted to find out.

She opened her mouth to say something, eyes still trained on his, when-

"Bolin!"

Bolin's heart jumped into his throat, and for the second time that night he wished his brother was spending the night off doing inappropriate things with Korra.

Kaiyo sprung back as if she was shocked, and Bolin felt immediately colder as she edged away. The air felt heavy, as if every situation, every person keeping them apart was crammed in the space between them. If he wanted to reach out to her again, he was going to have to battle every single one, and the cards were stacked against them.

The thought was distressingly sobering.

"Bolin!"

Mako's voice took on an urgent, almost hysterical edge and Bolin couldn't help but remember the last time he had gone missing-stuffed in the back of an unmarked van with three Equalist guards tying him up like a trussed pig.

It was guilt, more than anything that caused him to respond in kind.

"I'm coming, Mako!"

He turned back to his companion, now huddling as far from him as she could across the narrow street. She was poised to take off, escape over the rooftops if his police brother showed up. But Bolin wouldn't let Mako get that far.

"I need to go," he whispered, grabbing his shoes from where he'd tied them to his belt and slipping them back on his feet. "I can't let Mako see you."

A dark shadow crossed across her face and he instantly regretted his phrasing, but he didn't have time to fix it. "Meet me here, same time tomorrow night?"

"But..."

"_Please_." He couldn't wait to hear her response. He pivoted on his right foot and took off towards Mako, trying to catch him before he found her. He thought he heard her utter a soft gasp as he ran off.

He thought it only fair, after she had taken off on him twice with hardly a word. He should be enjoying the payback.

But, looking back over his shoulder as he sprinted down the alleyway towards his brother, with her looking as small and confused as the first time he tied her up in a dark warehouse, he couldn't help the thought running through his head.

_This doesn't feel good at all._

**A/N: Oh my gosh this was so incredibly difficult to write! I'm so so sorry for the wait. I think I've finally broken through my writer's block so it shouldn't happen again.**

**Thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews that you guys have given me! I'm definitely using some of your awesome ideas in the next chapters ;)**

**Reviews and constructive criticism always appreciated! **


	4. Chapter 4

The night descended as quickly as a hawk eagle diving onto an unsuspecting shrew-rat. At least, Bolin thought so. One minute, he was busy working his day job at the arena and trying his best not to think about the events that happened the previous night. The next, it was pitch black dark outside and he was counting down the hours until he needed to slip past his brother and hopefully meet the Equalist girl who had turned his life upside down.

The air was cooler tonight, slapping his face as each gust of wind swirled past their open window. Bolin shifted on the windowsill and leaned his head back against the wall, shielding himself from the weather. For most, the coming of winter held promises of family and festivals and holidays. But for him and his brother, it held promises of frostbitten fingers and toes and long nights huddling together under a threadbare blanket.

And tonight, it held promises of meeting the one girl who made him feel like he still had a purpose in life.

After they had defeated Amon, Bolin had been floundering. Everyone else had settled nicely into their niche-Korra was working with the council and continuing her Avatar duties. Mako was a police officer and enjoying the benefits of a steady job. Asami was rebuilding Future Industries. Even the young General Iroh was settling into Republic City, expanding the United Forces to have an outpost there.

But Bolin had drifted. He sat at home, watching his friends move on with their lives. He began putting together another team for the next probending season, but even that didn't fill him with the same content and joy it had before. It wasn't enough to just be "goofy" Bolin or "fire ferrets rookie" Bolin anymore. He had gotten a taste of something bigger than himself, and now he simply couldn't go back to the life of a probender he had before.

Well, not exactly. He would be hard pressed to give up pro-bending _entirely_. Hammering earth discs into unsuspecting teams was one of those simple pleasures that had gotten him through the last two years.

A sharp knock briefly interrupted his reverie, and he hopped down from the windowsill to go answer the door. He silently padded by his brother, snoring softly on the couch, and absentmindedly reached to open the door, still deep in thought.

But he also needed something _else_. Something besides earthbending. Something besides helping Korra with the council or Asami with her Satomobiles the few times they needed an extra hand. Something besides the probending arena.

"Bolin?"

Something like _her_.

"Kaiyo?" Bolin's voice came out higher than he would have liked, in a whispered rush. His mind was running slowly, as if it were stuck in molasses. Was he dreaming? No, she was really here, standing in the dark hallway outside of his front door. He briefly wondered how on earth she knew where in the huge arena their small apartment was, but he figured it was best to just not know. "What are you doing here?"

"Please, Bolin..."

It took a moment for his brain to catch up with his eyes, but when it did he noticed how tattered and bruised she was. Her cheek had a shallow cut right above her cheekbone, and he could see through her torn gloves that her knuckles were dirty and bloody. She still wore her Equalist garb, holding her helmet in one lowered hand, but her chest was heaving as if she had just run a marathon.

"You have to help me."

Bolin felt his heart thud painfully in his chest. He was acutely aware of his brother, still asleep behind him. If he brought her inside, his brother would have a fit. After all, he was a bit _particular _about Equalists after they tried to take away his and Korra's bending. And the remaining Equalist factions hadn't exactly made life easy on him as a police officer either.

The sensible thing would be to hide Kaiyo in one of the many storage rooms in the arena and go get Korra. She wouldn't go flying off the deep end over one Equalist, and she would be able to keep Mako from going crazy and possibly committing fratricide. She would help.

But then he would be leaving Kaiyo on her own for the afternoon while he went and fetched the avatar. And if she was able to find their apartment, who was to say the rest of the Equalists wouldn't be able to find her in the arena?

Oh well, Bolin thought. Who ever expected him to do the _sensible _thing?

"Come in," he said instead, grabbing her wrist and pulling her inside before she had a chance to protest. "They won't find you here, and then we can figure out what to do next."

She stumbled into the apartment, eyes wide as she took in their surroundings. He steered her towards the kitchen and tried to keep himself hyperventilating. What would Mako do in this situation?

"Would you like some...tea?" Stupid, Bolin, stupid! She needed comfort, not tea. Right? When Korra came back after being abducted, Mako carried her all the way up the Air Temple stairs to her room. Something told him that if he tried to do that to Kaiyo, she would hit him.

Kaiyo shook her head, the motion causing stray hairs to fall loosely around her face. It was mind numbingly distracting. "I came here because I need to tell you something important."

"Important?"

She nodded. "About my...about the other Equalists." Her mouth thinned into a hard line, and she glanced down, avoiding his eyes. "Yesterday morning I overheard some talk about an attack."

"An attack? On who? On what?" An attack sounded bad. Even with fewer numbers, the Equalists were dangerous.

"I wasn't sure. I snuck back today to figure out more, but wasn't able to get much before they found me. But it sounds like they..." Her voice trailed off and she turned towards the living room, eyes wide.

A line of fire, searing hot, shot between them. Bolin yelped and jumped away, landing closer to the door, while Kaiyo took shelter in the kitchen.

In the living room, his brother was awake and stalking towards them with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Stop! What are you doing?!" His protest burst from his mouth before he even thought through the words. In the kitchen, he saw Kaiyo spin to face their attacker, grabbing hold of a cast iron frying pan and sinking into a familiar chi-blocking stance.

His brother's eyes flickered briefly towards him. "She's an Equalist! I'm trying to _protect _you!"

Anger boiled in his stomach like a serpent coiling up before the killing strike. Another time, another day, Bolin would stand aside and let Mako do things his way. It was easier, and not worth the effort. Mako's intentions were usually good, even if he was a bit of a control freak. He wouldn't hurt Kaiyo, but he would contain her and assume the worst.

But not this time. This time, Bolin edged so he stood squarely between Kaiyo and his brother, whose eyes widened in shock. The surprise on his face almost caused him to smirk. Mako was older, and still a better fighter than he was. But Bolin was an earthbender. Stubbornness was in his nature. Mako had no idea what he was up against.

And it was about time that his brother learned that he was not just a naive kid anymore.

"You need to listen to me _right now_," Bolin sank enough steel into his voice that he sounded five years older. The sound was foreign even to his ears. "This is Kaiyo, and she is not the enemy. She is helping me, and in return we are protecting her from Equalists who would see her hurt, or worse."

Mako shook his head. "Bo, you can't be serious. She _is _an Equalist, and dangerous! We need to detain her and question her."

Bolin sighed and set his jaw, sinking into a bending stance. "I can't let you do that."

Mako halted, and incredulous look edged in his features. "You would fight me?"

Oh, this was going to feel good. "No." Bolin let his mouth curve into an easy smirk. "I would beat you."

His brother's eyes flashed a dangerous shade of gold and he charged, two long whips of fire bursting from his palms. Kaiyo yelped and danced away from the attack, ending up behind Bolin with the frying pan still clutched nervously in her hand. Bolin understood her unease-chi blocking required proximity, and Mako's fire made it difficult to get close.

Mako changed the course of his fire whips to set one on either side of them. Bolin recognized the technique-Mako wanted to corner them so he could slap on a pair of handcuffs before they had a chance to do any damage. Too bad for him that Bolin knew his tricks.

Bolin dug his front foot into the ground to brace himself and raised both hands, palms up, in front of him. A massive wall of earth-six feet across and at least one foot thick, rose from the floor of his apartment, shaped from the foundation beneath their floor. The fire diverted around the wall, spilling off haphazardly in either direction.

Mako charged straight towards the wall and Bolin tensed, letting the sharp reverberations of his brother's footsteps tell him where he was. He knew what Mako was up to. He would leap over the wall and land behind him, incapacitating him before he could even turn around.

Just as predicted, he felt his brother land behind him. Mako recovered and started to twist impossibly fast-stupid firebender balance-but Bolin stomped on the ground once, sharply, and two spikes of earth shot up out of the floor and knocked him to the ground. Another stomp and makeshift handcuffs, just like the ones he had put on Kaiyo when they first met, materialized around Mako's wrists.

His brother's eyes flared, and his legs tensed up for a kick. Bolin needed to immobilize him, and quickly, or else he was going to be able to use his firebending to leverage his way out of the handcuffs. So, he did what any brother would do.

Taking two steps back, Bolin sat down right on Mako's chest.

"Oof, Bo!" Bolin was pleased to hear his brother's voice coming out in between strained pants. "What are you doing?"

"What I'm doing is keeping you from arresting our guest." He shifted his weight and was rewarded with another oomph from his brother. "She's not here to hurt us."

"Bo, she's an Equalist. You can't be that naive."

Now that was quite enough of that. "Mako, when we were younger you stepped up to take care of me. You've always been the leader, the one to shoulder responsibility. And you're good at it, I get that. I usually defer to you because you're my brother and I trust you.

"But I'm not eight anymore. And on this, I'm not deferring to you. This girl is not our enemy, and she needs our help. And with her, we have a chance to peacefully end the conflict between the remaining Equalists _and _make a huge difference for a lot of people who still believe in their ideas. And I don't care if you help me but I have to do this."

Mako exhaled, twin puffs of steam coming out of his nostrils. "You're sure about this? How do you know we can trust her?"

Bolin looked down at his hands. "She saved me. When I came on your rounds with you, when we were ambushed by Equalists. They were closing in on me and she pulled me to safety."

Amber eyes closed and Bolin felt himself sink as his brother let out a long breath. "Alright."

Bolin grinned, the effort stretching his mouth nearly ear to ear, and leapt to his feet before thrusting a hand down to help his brother up. As Mako stood up and brushed some dirt off his pants, Bolin noticed that his guest had managed to sneak off and now was making a very hasty beeline towards the exit.

He dashed to the door, holding it closed before Kaiyo could pull it open and leave. "Where are you going?"

She looked distinctly uncomfortable. "You guys were having a...moment. I didn't want to interrupt your..." She paused, clearly searching for the right word. "Discussion."

"No need." Mako was up off the floor, and somehow looking no worse for wear even after losing their fight. One of these days Bolin was going to need to learn how to do that. "Bolin is right, and I was completely out of line to attack you. I'm terribly sorry."

He held out a hand and Kaiyo tentatively shook it. Bolin felt pride burst in his chest as Mako gave the girl a small smile. "My name is Mako, and my brother and I are going to help you however we can."

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, nothing like a good, brotherly fight to settle the score!**

**Full disclosure, I actually am quite fond of Mako. I was a bit sad when they stopped developing his character outside of romance after Episode 3, but I still liked him. What really bugged me was how he always seemed to mother Bolin and not respecting his opinion. I hope I came to some realistic conclusion of how Bolin would feel and respond to this later in the series!**

**I want to thank CourtingTheMoon for the giant wall idea! I hope it was implemented to your liking :)**

**Lastly, there is only one more chapter left in this story :'( I'm trying my best to make sure I get it out in a reasonable amount of time, but the upcoming holidays are leaving me stretched for time. With luck I'll wrap this story up in the next couple of weeks.**

**As always, reviews are cherished. Constructive criticism encouraged! And all that jazz.**

**Cheers,**  
**OrganizedXChaos**


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